Karen’s guidebook
family time
Head to the beach. You can walk there easily from the house. The quickest way is to turn left, then first right (or walk a little further and turn right into Beach house Park) at the other end cross the road and walk straight ahead through the park/carpark, cross the promenade and you will see the sea.
20 recommandé par les habitants
Worthing Beach
Marine ParadeHead to the beach. You can walk there easily from the house. The quickest way is to turn left, then first right (or walk a little further and turn right into Beach house Park) at the other end cross the road and walk straight ahead through the park/carpark, cross the promenade and you will see the sea.
Walk, cycle, scoot or jog along Worthings beautiful Promenade. 5 miles of wide tree lined traffic free space running alongside the beach.
For a short walk of about three quarters of a mile, head east from the pier, see the iconic Dome cinema on your left, past to splash point to the lovely Coast cafe, which has seating on the beach. Visit the beach hut traders next to Coast or work out at the outdoor gym equipment (Calisthenics Park) just a little further on. Behind Coast cafe is Gull Island, a beach themed wooden playground aimed at younger children and a large grassy area with a rolly polly hill, perfect for picnics and ball games for all the family. As the prom runs closer to the road, fresh fish is available most days direct from the fishermen. Times, type of catch and prices are noted on blackboards dotted along the pavement. You could now continue to Lancing’s Beach Green which is another mile and a half away, enjoy a coffee at The Perch Cafe (for the best view whatever the weather!) and hop on the 700 bus back (runs up to every 10 mins) back to the pier.
For a longer walk, great for sea views and people watching, head west from the pier, past the Lido amusements and the Observation Wheel. It's 1.3 miles to Waterwise, a great play park for all age children and 2.5 miles to Sea Lane Cafe, which also has seating on the beach.
Promenade
70 Marine ParadeWalk, cycle, scoot or jog along Worthings beautiful Promenade. 5 miles of wide tree lined traffic free space running alongside the beach.
For a short walk of about three quarters of a mile, head east from the pier, see the iconic Dome cinema on your left, past to splash point to the lovely Coast cafe, which has seating on the beach. Visit the beach hut traders next to Coast or work out at the outdoor gym equipment (Calisthenics Park) just a little further on. Behind Coast cafe is Gull Island, a beach themed wooden playground aimed at younger children and a large grassy area with a rolly polly hill, perfect for picnics and ball games for all the family. As the prom runs closer to the road, fresh fish is available most days direct from the fishermen. Times, type of catch and prices are noted on blackboards dotted along the pavement. You could now continue to Lancing’s Beach Green which is another mile and a half away, enjoy a coffee at The Perch Cafe (for the best view whatever the weather!) and hop on the 700 bus back (runs up to every 10 mins) back to the pier.
For a longer walk, great for sea views and people watching, head west from the pier, past the Lido amusements and the Observation Wheel. It's 1.3 miles to Waterwise, a great play park for all age children and 2.5 miles to Sea Lane Cafe, which also has seating on the beach.
Sightseeing
Its well worth taking a stroll down Worthings famous pier, named 2019 Pier of the year no less!. Visit the amusements, do a spot of fishing or just sit and watch the world go by. The cafe at the end is being refurbished at the moment but there is kiosk half way up and the Denton Lounge which offers great views at the beginning.
53 recommandé par les habitants
Worthing Pier
Marine ParadeIts well worth taking a stroll down Worthings famous pier, named 2019 Pier of the year no less!. Visit the amusements, do a spot of fishing or just sit and watch the world go by. The cafe at the end is being refurbished at the moment but there is kiosk half way up and the Denton Lounge which offers great views at the beginning.
Neighbourhoods
By Debbie Ward
31st August 2022
5 min read.
It’s Friday night and a DJ is playing Ibiza tracks at Coast Cafe. Beyond the open doors, drinkers sip Aperol Spritz at tables on the pebble Sussex beach and fire jugglers ready themselves for sunset. It could be Brighton, but it isn’t. This is 10 miles west, in the UK’s most famous seaside town’s less fashionable neighbour: Worthing. This lively end-of-week scene is just one of the hints that the town’s sleepy retirement image is a thing of the past. A few metres further along the front, Crabshack serves up excellent seafood on raw-wood benches and an outdoor deck strung with lights. On the other side of the pier, the town’s ugly multi-storey car park now sports an al fresco food court, erected during the pandemic on the jutting roof of level one. In deckchairs on artificial grass, groups still gather for seaview sundowners and wood-fired pizza.
Though there are microbreweries and cocktail bars besides, not all the town’s newer diversions involve eating and drinking. In the 1930s chalet studios beside Coast Café, East Beach, you can buy direct from resident artists. Inspired, near the pier, also sells clothing and homewares sporting cheery graphics dreamt up by local designer-makers, while there’s an artists’ hub with frequent exhibitions at Colonnade House. On summer Saturdays here, you can catch free family-friendly outdoor performances from international talent as part of the town’s annual festival of contemporary circus and theatre (until 10 September).
It’s still a way off from Brighton’s much-referenced “London-on-sea” vibe, with Worthing considerably smaller - but that also makes it more intimate, less crowded. The town has been enlivened by a shift in demographic, as younger people priced out of its city neighbour have moved up the
In 2018, Worthing launched its own Pride festival; in the same year, resident Kenny Tutt won BBC’s MasterChef, ignoring Brighton’s thriving foodie scene to establish his first restaurant Pitch in his up-and-coming hometown. Tutt’s family moved down from London 25 years ago, having been frequent visitors to Worthing’s “quintessential British beaches”.
The chef remarks: “I always remember my Dad taking a big gulp of fresh sea air when we pulled up. ‘Breathe it in, son’ he would say.” The town’s position between the sea and South Downs convinced Tutt it was perfect for sourcing quality produce. “Like a lot of seaside locations, which I believe have been a little overlooked, Worthing was crying out for more exciting dining spots,” he tells me. “In recent years, there has been a massive flurry of great cafés and restaurants, supported greatly by lots of people moving into the town from larger cities, in search of the good life.”
Last year Tutt gave Worthing another vote of confidence by opening a second, more casual restaurant, Bayside Social. All wood and bi-fold doors, this sits directly on the town’s East Beach - giving it, in his words, “strong holiday vibes”.
However, it’s a 2022 newcomer that’s really changing the scene here. A £1m restoration has just seen the tired tearoom on Worthing’s beautiful Art Deco pier transformed as a stylish all-day restaurant and cocktail bar, Perch on the Pier. It’s the third Sussex coast hangout from Alex Coombes, who himself recently moved to Worthing after 15 years on a heritage square in the heart of Brighton’s fashionable twin Hove.
“We thought that Worthing really needed a flagship,” Coombes says of the project. It was only after purchase that he realised the responsibility he had taken on, not just financially but emotionally, too. “It ended up costing a lot more than we anticipated,” he says. “So many people told me stories about what the pier had meant to them. They said, ‘We’re dying for you to make it better’. We really wanted people to be excited about it.”
“We thought that Worthing really needed a flagship,” Coombes says of the project. It was only after purchase that he realised the responsibility he had taken on, not just financially but emotionally, too. “It ended up costing a lot more than we anticipated,” he says. “So many people told me stories about what the pier had meant to them. They said, ‘We’re dying for you to make it better’. We really wanted people to be excited about it.”
He has noticed Hove families in particular “drifting” west in search of better-value homes. Worthing “does feel a bit more Brighton” these days, admits Coombes, citing its burgeoning independent scene (including a specialist cheese shop that’s “so Hove”), though he’s quick to add that the town, unlike its neighbours, is “not a 24-hour place”.
Refreshingly, Worthing’s shift is not about gentrification. Perch’s clientele, here and at its sibling venue in nearby Lancing, indicates a broadening, rather than a narrowing, of audience. Coombes says: “We’ve never really been able to work out our demographic. It’s such a variety, which is nice really, because we want to make everybody’s day.”
And the town has other vintage charms to match its historic pier. The gorgeous retro Dome Cinema opposite the seafront makes the perfect bolthole in rainy weather, while its Museum and Gallery has one of the most important historical clothing collections in the country. The 30,000 exhibits you’ll find there (which include Queen Victoria’s undies) have aided research for many a costume drama. The Connaught, one of the town’s two theatres, is, like the pier, a Deco delight. The wide promenade now features coffee and gin trucks and, even in August, you’ll find plenty of elbowroom on the beach.
Tempted, but not ready to give up your Brighton weekender? You don’t have to. Both the railway and a seafront cycle path join the two resorts, making it great for a twin-stop break. Save for a detour around Shoreham Port, you can hug the beach the whole way on two wheels. Just remember to shift down a gear as you breeze into Worthing.
Direct trains from London Victoria to Worthing take around one hour 20 minutes. The 12-mile ride to or from Brighton follows National Cycle Route 2. There are public hire bikes in both Brighton and Worthing, though for the full distance bringing your own bike could be comfier. With numerous train stops on the 30-minute journey between the resorts, it’s easy to
57 recommandé par les habitants
Worthing
By Debbie Ward
31st August 2022
5 min read.
It’s Friday night and a DJ is playing Ibiza tracks at Coast Cafe. Beyond the open doors, drinkers sip Aperol Spritz at tables on the pebble Sussex beach and fire jugglers ready themselves for sunset. It could be Brighton, but it isn’t. This is 10 miles west, in the UK’s most famous seaside town’s less fashionable neighbour: Worthing. This lively end-of-week scene is just one of the hints that the town’s sleepy retirement image is a thing of the past. A few metres further along the front, Crabshack serves up excellent seafood on raw-wood benches and an outdoor deck strung with lights. On the other side of the pier, the town’s ugly multi-storey car park now sports an al fresco food court, erected during the pandemic on the jutting roof of level one. In deckchairs on artificial grass, groups still gather for seaview sundowners and wood-fired pizza.
Though there are microbreweries and cocktail bars besides, not all the town’s newer diversions involve eating and drinking. In the 1930s chalet studios beside Coast Café, East Beach, you can buy direct from resident artists. Inspired, near the pier, also sells clothing and homewares sporting cheery graphics dreamt up by local designer-makers, while there’s an artists’ hub with frequent exhibitions at Colonnade House. On summer Saturdays here, you can catch free family-friendly outdoor performances from international talent as part of the town’s annual festival of contemporary circus and theatre (until 10 September).
It’s still a way off from Brighton’s much-referenced “London-on-sea” vibe, with Worthing considerably smaller - but that also makes it more intimate, less crowded. The town has been enlivened by a shift in demographic, as younger people priced out of its city neighbour have moved up the
In 2018, Worthing launched its own Pride festival; in the same year, resident Kenny Tutt won BBC’s MasterChef, ignoring Brighton’s thriving foodie scene to establish his first restaurant Pitch in his up-and-coming hometown. Tutt’s family moved down from London 25 years ago, having been frequent visitors to Worthing’s “quintessential British beaches”.
The chef remarks: “I always remember my Dad taking a big gulp of fresh sea air when we pulled up. ‘Breathe it in, son’ he would say.” The town’s position between the sea and South Downs convinced Tutt it was perfect for sourcing quality produce. “Like a lot of seaside locations, which I believe have been a little overlooked, Worthing was crying out for more exciting dining spots,” he tells me. “In recent years, there has been a massive flurry of great cafés and restaurants, supported greatly by lots of people moving into the town from larger cities, in search of the good life.”
Last year Tutt gave Worthing another vote of confidence by opening a second, more casual restaurant, Bayside Social. All wood and bi-fold doors, this sits directly on the town’s East Beach - giving it, in his words, “strong holiday vibes”.
However, it’s a 2022 newcomer that’s really changing the scene here. A £1m restoration has just seen the tired tearoom on Worthing’s beautiful Art Deco pier transformed as a stylish all-day restaurant and cocktail bar, Perch on the Pier. It’s the third Sussex coast hangout from Alex Coombes, who himself recently moved to Worthing after 15 years on a heritage square in the heart of Brighton’s fashionable twin Hove.
“We thought that Worthing really needed a flagship,” Coombes says of the project. It was only after purchase that he realised the responsibility he had taken on, not just financially but emotionally, too. “It ended up costing a lot more than we anticipated,” he says. “So many people told me stories about what the pier had meant to them. They said, ‘We’re dying for you to make it better’. We really wanted people to be excited about it.”
“We thought that Worthing really needed a flagship,” Coombes says of the project. It was only after purchase that he realised the responsibility he had taken on, not just financially but emotionally, too. “It ended up costing a lot more than we anticipated,” he says. “So many people told me stories about what the pier had meant to them. They said, ‘We’re dying for you to make it better’. We really wanted people to be excited about it.”
He has noticed Hove families in particular “drifting” west in search of better-value homes. Worthing “does feel a bit more Brighton” these days, admits Coombes, citing its burgeoning independent scene (including a specialist cheese shop that’s “so Hove”), though he’s quick to add that the town, unlike its neighbours, is “not a 24-hour place”.
Refreshingly, Worthing’s shift is not about gentrification. Perch’s clientele, here and at its sibling venue in nearby Lancing, indicates a broadening, rather than a narrowing, of audience. Coombes says: “We’ve never really been able to work out our demographic. It’s such a variety, which is nice really, because we want to make everybody’s day.”
And the town has other vintage charms to match its historic pier. The gorgeous retro Dome Cinema opposite the seafront makes the perfect bolthole in rainy weather, while its Museum and Gallery has one of the most important historical clothing collections in the country. The 30,000 exhibits you’ll find there (which include Queen Victoria’s undies) have aided research for many a costume drama. The Connaught, one of the town’s two theatres, is, like the pier, a Deco delight. The wide promenade now features coffee and gin trucks and, even in August, you’ll find plenty of elbowroom on the beach.
Tempted, but not ready to give up your Brighton weekender? You don’t have to. Both the railway and a seafront cycle path join the two resorts, making it great for a twin-stop break. Save for a detour around Shoreham Port, you can hug the beach the whole way on two wheels. Just remember to shift down a gear as you breeze into Worthing.
Direct trains from London Victoria to Worthing take around one hour 20 minutes. The 12-mile ride to or from Brighton follows National Cycle Route 2. There are public hire bikes in both Brighton and Worthing, though for the full distance bringing your own bike could be comfier. With numerous train stops on the 30-minute journey between the resorts, it’s easy to